During Italy’s 1-0 loss to Uruguay on Tuesday, the Liverpool man appeared to push his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini, with the Azzurri defender pointing to marks on his shoulder as proof.

Suarez has already faced sanctions for biting incidents at club level with Liverpool and Ajax, but Lugano remains convinced that his team-mate did nothing wrong, and pointed his finger at the British press for sensationalising the story.

“I don’t know what incident you’re talking about. Are you talking about the Premier League or the national team? Have you got something against Luis?” he said to the BBC.

“Everybody knows the British media have an issue with Suarez. It must sell newspapers in England. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.

“I don’t know what a British journalist is doing talking about Suarez. It must be popular with the British media. I don’t see another explanation.”

An image of disputed origin shared on social media showed the apparent bite marks left by Suarez on Chiellini’s shoulder, but Lugano refused to accept the evidence against his team-mate.

“The pictures don’t show anything. They show an approximation but nothing important,” he said.

Fifa have announced that they will investigate the incident, with Suarez potentially facing a two year ban from international football.